So What?
by TheSkyWriter
Summary: Oliver's got a brand new attitude, and he's gonna wear it today. Much to the annoyance of a certain space witch. But for once, instead of bending over backward and averting his eyes like a 'good boyfriend', Oliver finds the will to fight back, and it's never felt so gratifying.


Oliver inhaled deeply to calm his nerves, then checked his reflection in the silver doors of the hall elevator one more time. His sea blue eyes were nervous but excited all at the same time, and he couldn't help but admire the Oliver staring back at him in the metal. He knew it would be a shock, but hopefully his teammates and friends could adjust to his new sense of self. Kaz was the only one that was informed about this, and while he had been hesitant at first, had accepted it when Oliver assured him that he would still be him, just more confident and at ease in his own skin, something he'd never really felt before. His mother always wanted Oliver to be proper and prim, a well-groomed trophy that she could show off whenever she liked. And Oliver had let himself be molded into someone he wasn't.

But as he assured Kaz yesterday, Oliver was still going to be himself-he still loved science and superheroes and comic books-but it was time to shed the skin of the well-groomed son of Mr. Terror and be who he was always meant to be, as corny and cheesy as that sounded. Oliver rotated his shoulders, straightened his back, swiped his key card, and entered the penthouse. Before, he would have walked in with his head slightly down, his shoulders slightly hunched, and his sea blue eyes downcast. But today, he reminded himself to keep his head up, his shoulders back and back straight, and his eyes up. It was a struggle, because he was so used to making himself unnoticeable to avoid being pummeled or ridiculed, but Oliver was determined to be his confident self that he knew was there. Old habits die hard, because as soon as Kaz's chocolate eyes fell on him, so did Chase's hazel, Bree's russet, and Skylar's cognac, and Oliver felt his own eyes avert to the floor, and he berated himself for it. Old habits _really_ die hard.

"I like it." Kaz commented. Oliver's eyes shot up and he grinned at his best friend, that insecurity fading away at Kaz's approval. If Kaz liked it, then it was okay. Oliver felt himself straighten up, that confidence he had been desperately trying to find oozing out easily.

"Thanks." Oliver replied coolly.

"What did you do to your hair?!" Oliver's girlfriend yelped, staring in horror at the pastel blue tips that contrasted with the deep bronze of Oliver's hair, now combed over in a messy side sweep to the left over his forehead, the pastel coloring barley reaching into his eyes. Oliver wasn't sure about dying his hair at first, especially pastel blue, but when he was allowed to see at the hairstylist's when it was just temporary yesterday, he adored it and immediately demanded an appointment to permanently dye it the next day. Styled like it was now, the blue tips brought out a new vividness to his sea blue eyes that many people, females especially, had complimented him on. "And what are you wearing?!" Skylar shrieked.

Oliver glanced over himself, wondering why Skylar was freaking out so much over his outfit. Yes, it was different than what he usually wore, the nerdy t-shirts and plain blue jeans, but surely it wasn't that bad? It wasn't anything that extravagant, just a long-sleeved grey t-shirt with a black shadow-like graphic design, a white undershirt, and a black fleece zip-up jacket with the zipper pulled halfway up his torso, slimming but not constricting dark wash faded jeans and a pair of new black Converse. A silver pendant with the Celtic symbol for water that he had bought just earlier that day from a vender down the street hung from his neck and rested on the inside of the jacket and over his heart, and his silver Rolex strapped to his left wrist. Not too drastic of a change, and Oliver didn't see the problem. "Umm, _clothes_?" Oliver replied in confusion.

"What's wrong, E.T.? Do you not like your boyfriend's new style?" Kaz teased. Oliver held his breath nervously.

"No, I don't!" Skylar shook her head rapidly. That breath exited Oliver's mouth in a heated rush, the boy himself feeling the rug being pulled out from under him. To add insult to injury..."He looks horrible!"

"He looks hot." Bree blurted, her russet brown eyes raking over Oliver appreciatively and making the boy lightly blush and mumble a thank you. His hairstylist had said the same when he walked into his appointment.

"Now let's make you look even hotter." She'd grinned devilishly and invited him into the black leather chair. "Now you're just delicious." She'd purred into his ear as Oliver stared in pleased shock at the pastel blue that newly colored his hair.

"It comes out, right?" Skylar demanded, her cognac eyes worried.

Oliver shrugged, placing his hands in his pockets. "Eventually. I'd have to have it redone every couple months."

"A couple months!" Skylar wailed.

"What is your _problem_ , Skylar?" Oliver snapped, now getting angry.

" _You're_ the problem, Oliver!" Skylar snapped back.

"How am _I_ the problem?!"

"You think it's okay to go out and do something like _this_ -"

"It's new _clothes_ and a new _haircut_!"

"-And not _ask_ me about it first!" Skylar spoke loudly over him.

"I didn't see how this was _your_ decision to make _for_ me!"

"Anyone wanna pop some popcorn?" Kaz asked Chase and Bree, watching the quarrel unfold with interest.

"I'm your _girlfriend_ , Oliver!"

"And that entitles you to be my boss _how_?!"

"I can't believe you're _arguing_ with me!"

"You started the stupid argument!"

"Because you went behind my back!"

"How is dying _my_ hair going behind _your_ back?!"

"You did it without asking me!"

"It's _my_ hair, not _yours_!"

"But you're _my_ boyfriend!"

"So I'm just supposed to come to you and ask your permission before I do everything, is that it?!"

"Exactly!"

"I'm not your servant, Skylar! I _can_ and _will_ think for myself!"

"So you're just going to leave me out of everything now?!"

"If this is how you're going to act about it, then I suppose so!"

"How am I acting like?!"

"A spoiled brat!"

"Ooh, this just got good." Kaz was enjoying himself, and Chase and Bree couldn't look away.

" _What_ did you just call me?!"

"You heard me! _Every single time_ I do something you don't like, you throw a temper tantrum like a brat! I'm actually thinking that Kaz is _right_ about you!"

"Oh, hold up. Did you really just say what I think you said?" Kaz exclaimed, his eyes wide.

"Shut up!" Oliver and Skylar yelled at him. Kaz raised his hands in surrender and flopped down on the couch, crossing his legs and gloating that Oliver had actually admitted to him being right. "I _cannot believe_ you just said that!" Skylar shrieked at Oliver.

"Believe it or don't, but it's starting to look that way!" Oliver shouted back.

"How can you agree with that _ape_ over me, your own _girlfriend_!"

"Maybe because he's right; you _are_ a space witch!" Oliver seethed. "You know what, Skylar, I don't think I can be with someone who is more of a _dictator_ than a _girlfriend_ anyway!"

"Is this going where I think it's going?" Bree whispered conspiratorially to Chase as Skylar gaped at Oliver like a fish out of water.

"Are-are you _dumping_ me?" Skylar asked slowly. Oliver paused, then to Kaz, Bree, and Chase's amazement, he nodded confidently. Skylar was in his face in the next millisecond, her own face a mask of fury. "Let's get something _straight_ here, Oliver Todd." She hissed like a serpent. "You _do_ _not_ dump me, not now, not ever!"

"I _just did_." Oliver retorted icily. "Sorry, Skylar, but it's not me, it's _you_."

Skylar let out an inhuman screech, and Oliver skidded across the floor and slammed into the wall with a small moan of pain, his hand covering his left eye where Skylar's left hook had made contact. Said alien life form super sped from the living room and disappeared up the stairs. "Ow." Oliver whined, and Kaz was by his side and out of his stunned trance left by the fight.

"Come on, lemme see." Kaz coaxed, gently pulling Oliver's hand away from his eye. "'Ow' is right. That's one shiner." Kaz winced at the blackening skin of Oliver's eyelid.

"That bad?" Oliver demanded.

"Nothing a little salve from your tool box won't fix by morning. She may not have super strength but she's still stronger than the average human." Kaz beamed at Oliver and shook his shoulder excitedly. "I can't believe you actually _did_ it! You actually _dumped_ the space witch! _I'm so proud of you!_ "

Oliver ducked his head and blushed at the praise. "Can we go get my eye fixed now?" Oliver asked shyly, but cursed himself under his breath. _Old habits really do die hard_ , Oliver thought as he was led to Mission Command, Kaz chattering excitedly in his ear about how awesome he was for finally listening to him.

SW

It must have been midnight when nature called out to Kaz, and when he returned from the bathroom, he discovered that Oliver's bed was empty. It was one of the rare nights a week when the fire-wielder could actually sleep peacefully, and Kaz was riddled with the choice before him: find out where his best friend was, or enjoy his night of sleep and crawl back into bed. Curiosity won out, and Kaz left the bedroom he shared with Oliver and Chase in search of the former. By the looks of Oliver's bed, he hadn't even touched it since that morning. Kaz was startled by the loud music that was suddenly audible as he entered the living room, and it was coming from the terrace. Kaz followed it and had to swallow his laugh at the scene before him.

There on the terrace was Oliver, clad in his plaid pajama bottoms and worn through grey t-shirt, dancing around the terrace and singing at the top of his lungs without a care in the world. Kaz would be impressed with Oliver's vocal and dance skill if the scene wasn't so silly, or if Oliver wasn't singing P!nk. "I guess I just lost my girlfriend/I don't know where she went. So I'm gonna drink my money/I'm not gonna pay her rent. I got a brand new attitude/And I'm gonna wear it today. I wanna get in trouble/I wanna start a fight. Na na na na na/I wanna start a fight. Na, na, na, na, na/ _I wanna start a fight!_ " Oliver spun around in mid-jump, then his sea blue eyes landed on Kaz and widened comically. Kaz expected him to balk and blush and stutter an apology for waking him up in total embarrassment, but to his surprise, Oliver just closed his eyes and continued on, spreading his arms and twirling and jumping and singing his heart out. After the first chorus, Oliver spotted that Kaz hadn't moved, other than to recline against the doorframe to the terrace comfortably, and grinned at his best friend, extending his arm in invitation. Kaz's eyes widened.

Used to, Kaz would accept the offer without thought or hesitation. Yes, they were comic book nerds to the extreme levels, but underneath that love of the fanatical and graphic art was a deep love and respect for all things musical that they both shared, engraved deep into their very DNA. Many times as kids and young teenagers, before Mighty Med, when Bridget wasn't home or they were alone, Oliver or Kaz would jumpstart the radio or cassette player, or whatever was available at the time-and dance and sing together all over the living room, backyard, front yard, or wherever they were until they collapsed from total exhaustion. They would joke about becoming rock stars together and doing concerts all night long to millions of screaming fans, especially girls, but after they were introduced to Mighty Med and the superhero world, their jam sessions or just plain sing-alongs together had slowed to a total stop. Come to think of it, the last time they had done it was after the first incident with Brain Matter.

Oliver wiggled his fingers at Kaz temptingly, singing the first lines of the second verse and swinging his hips back and forth to the rhythm. A slow grin spread across Kaz's face and Oliver beamed as Kaz grabbed his hand and began singing and dancing with him like they were kids again. It was like no time had passed at all as the pair of best friends moved easily with one other, dancing together and singing with no care whatsoever. Kaz's eyes drifted to the terrace door where Chase was blearily stumbling over to the door, no doubt wondering what the noise was all about, with Bree and Skylar at his heels. Kaz gauged Oliver's reaction to their new spectators, but Oliver merely pretended that they weren't there, until they got to the bridge. Kaz doubled over in laughter as Oliver sang it directly to Skylar, who fumed in her spot. "You weren't there/You never were. You want it all/But that's not fair. I gave you love/I gave my all. You weren't there/You let me fall. So, so what?!" Skylar roared in anger and stormed away, bright scarlet energy flaring around her. Chase stumbled behind, telling them sourly to be more quietly. Bree just gave them a curious look but left with the other two.

"You going to bed, too?" Oliver asked Kaz.

"Are you?" Kaz shot back. Oliver smirked, his sea blue eyes glinting playfully. Kaz returned the smirk, his own chocolate eyes sparkling with mischief.

They would be found the next morning by Chase, Skylar, and Bree, passed out on the terrace chairs with the radio still playing loudly.

 **What? You guys know I'm not Skylar's biggest fan, and while I absolutely adore Oliver, I can't help but given him a bit of a confidence boost. (Plus I agree with LabRatsWhore, I hate that they made him so creepy this season.) Along with a new sense of style. (I think he'd look hot with this style, but maybe that's just me.)** **And I love, love, _love_ music, can't go a day without listening to it. :) We might explore Oliver and Kaz's own love for it later. ;)**


End file.
